Zymeworks

Associate Scientist/Scientist, Bioassay Development (1-year contract)

Discovery Research - Vancouver, BC

Description

Zymeworks is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation bispecific and multifunctional biotherapeutics, initially focused on the treatment of cancer. Zymeworks’ suite of complementary therapeutic platforms and its fully-integrated drug development engine provide the flexibility and compatibility to precisely engineer and develop highly-differentiated product candidates.

About the Position

This position will report to the Assay Development group lead within the Assay Development Group in the Discovery Research Department and will be based in Vancouver, BC. This position is a 1-year contract for a maternity leave placement.

Key Responsibilities:

• Uses scientific methods and principles to design, implement and execute scientific research and development projects in collaboration with a larger research team.
• Identifies methodologies and technologies, conducts experiments, reaches conclusions and recommends solutions to guide research and development work.
• Participates in the development of plans, schedules and costs of assigned projects/programs.
• Communicates data and works closely with cross-functional groups to facilitate development of therapeutics and novel technologies.
• Reviews literature and public databases. Assists with the review of targets for therapeutic development and project plans.
• Prepares reports on assigned projects for internal and external use, makes presentations to team and contributes to technical journals.
• Reviews experimental process and data.
• Assists with patent applications.
• Contributes to scientific literature and conferences.
• Assists in maintaining a clean, organized and operational lab.
• Conducts all activities in accordance with scientific standards, OH&S regulations and established policies and practices.
• Ensures adherence to best practices and explores opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Fosters effective and collaborative working relationships with fellow employees, management and external partners.

Qualifications and Education

• Minimum of a PhD or equivalent in a relevant scientific discipline (Immunology, Immuno-oncology) and a minimum of 2 to 5 years related experience (may include post-doctoral experience) or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Expert knowledge of scientific principles and concepts.
• Proven interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively as a member of cross-functional team. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships.
• Proven ability to manage, lead and provide mentoring & coaching for a team of more junior personnel.
• Good organizational and time management skills and the ability to work effectively in a high-paced, fast-changing environment. Results-oriented.
• Ability to design and perform complicated experiments and plan multi-experiment strategies to execute project goals.
• Critical observation skills and strong statistical analysis capabilities including analysis of sigmoidal curves (Hill’s Slope, r2, asymptotes), operations with EC50/IC50 values, tests of significance, p-values, etc.
• Effective oral and scientific/technical writing skills.
• Proficiency with MS Office (esp. Excel), GraphPad Prism, FlowJo.
• Experience with Electronic Laboratory Notebooks and SmartSheet is an asset
• Significant technical and scientific skills which may include some of the following:
• Expert knowledge of adaptive and/or innate immunity.
• Antibody and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) characterization & screening.
• Co-culture assays with cell lines + immune cells
• Isolation/depletion of immune cell populations from PBMCs (T cells, monocytes, DCs, pDCs).
• High content evaluation of cell cytotoxicity.
• Flow cytometry.
• Transient transfections of mammalian cell lines.
• Homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence immunoassays (HTRF).
• Reporter Gene Assays (luciferase, colourimetric).
• Invasion/migration assays.
• 3D cell culture assays, such as spheroids & organoids.
• T-cell dependent cell cytotoxicity assays (TDCC).
• Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity assays (ADCC).
• Antibody-dependent cell phagocytosis (ADCP).
• Complement-dependent cytotoxicity assays (CDC).
• CRISPR/CAS9.
• Differentiation, activation, and expansion of macrophages, T cells, B cells, NK cells.
• Complex agonist, antagonist, inverse agonist and positive allosteric bioassays in single dose or dose response format (EC50 and IC50).
• Cytokine profiling (Mesoscale MSD, multi-channel flow cytometry).
• In vivo immuno-oncology models and splenocyte isolation.
• Complete understanding of standard and/or specialized laboratory equipment which may include:
• Laboratory Automation (Lynx, Hamilton).
• Multimode microplate readers (Biotek).
• Flow Cytometers (Fortessa, Attune, iQue, DiVa, FlowJo).
• High content imaging devices (CellInsight CX5, Incucyte, Operetta).
• MesoScale MSD electrochemiluminescence

Why Work for Us?

Innovation. Act with Integrity. Collaboration. Care

We come from many countries, cultures, races, ethnicities, abilities and nationalities. We bring our passions including singing, biking, swimming, dancing, cooking, volunteering, parenting, coaching and much more! We are proud of our nearly equal balance of men and women and strengthened by our non-binary and transgender team members. Every employee belongs.

We offer challenging career opportunities, competitive benefits and an environment that recognizes and rewards performance.

How to Apply

NOTE TO EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES: Zymeworks values our relationships with our Recruitment Partners. We will only accept resumes from those partners whom have been contracted by a member of our Human Resources team to collaborate with us. Zymeworks is not responsible for any fees related to resumes that are unsolicited or are received without contract.

Zymeworks

Zymeworks is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Submitted: 12/02/2020